Dave Marsland is
the Drinks Enthusiast. I went along, with the husband in tow, to Dave’s Rum
Masterclass, at Lock 91, Deansgate, Manchester.

I’ve blogged
about Lock 91 before and it felt just perfect to be snuggled away in one of the cozy
little upper-class vintage rooms sipping straight rum.

Obviously Dave was
there, 2 bar staff, and about 15 other rum drinkers, which made for a pretty
interesting ‘date night’, let me tell you!

Dave took us
through the origins of rum (it’s made from sugar canes if you’re interested) as
well as explaining what distillation and fermentation actually means. Then it
was time to do some tasting!

We tasted each
rum in the order shown below. Dave’s advice was to go straight in, sans mixer,
to really palate the flavours. However, for the faint hearted (not me!)
selections of mixers were provided.

Havana Club
(white)

Bacardi Gold

Gosling’s Black
Seal

Old J Spiced

Kraken

I never imagined
that rum could be drank straight (same with vodka – no thank you) and I
struggled to drink the first two without a mixer (it burns! It burns!). However, by the time we were onto the Black
Seal, I was a true rum convert! Kraken really was sooo smooth and easy to
drink, whilst the sweet and spicy Old J was just something else!

Then it was time
for the Lock91 Bar staff to show off their talents as talk turned to cocktails.
We were given four (yes four!) cocktails per couple each featuring a different
rum! I tried to write
down the names and ingredients of each one but I’ll be honest – I was hammered!

It was interesting
that once mixed into a cocktail the rum’s were very difficult to identify.

My conclusion is
that if you are going to make cocktails with your rum, stick to the lower
priced ones, and if you want to enjoy it on the rocks, go straight for the
Kraken!

And the night
didn’t end there. If you have ever wondered what all the rums would taste like
together in a bloody big pirate’s treasure chest filed with ice and fruit –
Lock91 has the answer!

Rummy!

Overall I had a
brilliant evening; I learnt so much about rum and Dave’s enthusiasm was
infectious. I now take a keen interest in the different types of rum not only
in bars and restaurants, but on supermarket shelves too. I’d recommend one of
Dave’s master classes to anyone who likes to drink alcohol, and fancies a great
night out that’s educational, fun, and a little bit different.